Should you really reach out to the AdSense team to solve your PageSpeed performance issues?

Why does Martin Splitt refer to the AdSense team instead of providing direct advice?

The brutally honest answer is: he does not know their codebase well enough. This statement reveals a reality often underestimated by SEO practitioners — the teams at Google are ultra-specialized and compartmentalized. The Search team does not have access to the technical intricacies of AdSense, even though these two products coexist on billions of pages.

What matters for you is to understand that performance issues related to advertising scripts fall outside the SEO team's scope. If your PageSpeed Insights scores show yellow or red due to AdSense, Martin Splitt explicitly tells you: reach out to the right team. There is no miracle solution from the Search side.

What does a yellow or red PageSpeed score related to AdSense mean?

PageSpeed Insights scores measure, among other things, loading time, interactivity (FID or INP), and visual stability (CLS). AdSense advertising scripts are notoriously heavy: asynchronous loading, multiple network calls, injection of dynamic content that can cause layout shifts.

A yellow score (50-89) or red score (0-49) signals that your page struggles with at least one of these criteria. If the PageSpeed report specifically points out AdSense resources — third-party scripts, ad images, API calls — then the problem is not in your code, but in the advertising integration itself. And there, the Search team will not be able to provide you with a detailed technical solution.

How can the AdSense team specifically help with these performance issues?

The AdSense team has technical levers that the SEO team does not: specific optimizations of scripts, less intrusive ad formats, advertising lazy-loading parameters, diagnostics on abnormal network calls. They can also guide you toward lighter AdSense formats or help you identify if a parameter in your account is degrading performance.

But let's be honest: contacting the AdSense team does not guarantee a magical resolution. Their support is often slow, responses generic, and you will probably have to arbitrate between advertising revenue and performance. Martin Splitt's statement is also a subtle way of saying: this is not our problem; deal with them.

• The Search team does not master AdSense code — advice will invariably come from the advertising team.
• AdSense scripts regularly impact PageSpeed scores, notably CLS and loading time.
• Contacting AdSense may unlock specific technical optimizations — but without a guarantee of quick results.
• Sometimes you have to arbitrate between monetization and performance — a compromise that only you can decide.

Is this strict separation between SEO and AdSense teams really justified?

From an organizational point of view at Google, yes. The teams are massive, the codebases distinct, and no one can be an expert on all products. But from an SEO practitioner’s perspective, it is frustrating. You manage a site where Search and AdSense coexist, and you're being tossed back and forth with no holistic view.

What bothers me is that Google does not provide unified documentation on the impact of its own advertising products on SEO. We know Core Web Vitals are a ranking signal, but how do you optimize AdSense for these metrics? Crickets. Martin Splitt tells you to look elsewhere — except the AdSense team won't talk to you about SEO. [To be verified]: no official Google study quantifies the impact of AdSense on ranking through Core Web Vitals.

Do field observations confirm that the Search team can do nothing?

Yes and no. In the field, we see that sites with AdSense suffer indirect penalties via degraded Core Web Vitals — notably CLS due to ads injecting content after the initial render. The Search team will never provide you with a technical solution for AdSense, but they will remind you that Core Web Vitals matter.

What is consistent with this statement is that Google will never make exceptions for its own advertising products. If AdSense degrades your performance, that is your problem — not the algorithm's. We've seen sites lose positions after a Core Web Vitals update while using AdSense in a standard way. Moral: the Search team applies its rules, and the AdSense team optimizes its revenue. You are stuck in the middle.

What are the gray areas in this statement?

Martin Splitt does not say whether the AdSense team is actually equipped to handle these performance requests. My experience: their support is monetization-oriented, not loading speed. You risk getting generic advice on lazy loading or responsive formats, but nothing as sharp as what a professional PageSpeed audit would reveal.

Another gray area: no mention of the revenue vs. performance trade-off. Specifically, reducing the number of ad placements or switching to less intrusive formats often improves scores — but it reduces your revenue. Google will never give you that advice, neither from Search nor AdSense. [To be verified]: the actual impact of partially removing AdSense on ranking via Core Web Vitals is not officially documented.

What should you do if AdSense is dragging your PageSpeed scores down?

First step: accurately diagnose. Run a PageSpeed Insights audit and look at the recommendations. If AdSense scripts appear in the "opportunities" (render-blocking resources, unused JavaScript, etc.), you have confirmation that the issue originates there. Repeat the audit several times — scores may fluctuate depending on the loaded ads.

Next, contact the AdSense team via your account (Help Center > Contact Us). Prepare screenshots of your PageSpeed reports, list your ad placements, and specifically request technical recommendations to improve Core Web Vitals. Do not expect an immediate or miraculous response — but this is the official path recommended by Martin Splitt.

What AdSense optimizations can you test on your own in the meantime?

There are several levers at your disposal without waiting for the AdSense team. Test lazy loading of ads: AdSense offers an option to load ads only when they enter the viewport. This reduces the initial JavaScript and improves loading time. However, be careful: this may reduce ad visibility and thus your revenue.

Another lever: reduce the number of ad placements, especially above the fold. The more AdSense blocks you have at the top of the page, the more the CLS is likely to explode due to layout shifts. Test fixed formats (size defined in CSS) instead of responsive formats that inject content dynamically. Measure the impact on revenue before generalizing.

How can you verify that your optimizations work without degrading your revenue?

Set up a regular monitoring of Core Web Vitals via Google Search Console (Essential Web Signals report). Cross-reference this data with your AdSense revenue for the same period. If you see an improvement in scores without a drop in revenue, you have found the right balance. If revenues drop too much, you will need to arbitrate.

Use the PageSpeed Insights and GTmetrix testing tools to measure the impact of each change in a controlled environment. Test first on a section of the site (for example, a blog category) before deploying across the board. Never change all your ad placements at once — you would lose the ability to identify what works.

• Audit your pages with PageSpeed Insights and precisely identify the problematic AdSense resources.
• Contact the AdSense team via your account with concrete data (screenshots, affected URLs).
• Test advertising lazy loading and fixed formats to reduce CLS and loading time.
• Gradually reduce the number of above-the-fold placements and measure the impact on revenue.
• Monitor Core Web Vitals in Search Console and cross-reference with your AdSense revenue.
• Never change all your placements at once — test section by section.